John M - Week 1

And now John's on board. Number three in Project Sting, he's about to embark on week one of his twelve week plan. Here's what it took to lay the groundwork:

John was one of five players selected to participate in Project Sting, a 12 week program where OneResult takes, you guessed it, five players, and puts them on training, nutrition, and supplement plans. Think of it as a, 1R Proves The Plans and Supplements Actually Do Work, project. Anyways, here's a snippet of how John got selected:

"I currently weigh about 183 lbs at 6 ft 1. I've been wanting to play college lacrosse every since I picked up a stick when I was 2 years old... I reguarly work out in my house on my own with weights. I do everything from simple push ups and sit ups to bench press and other exercises with weights. I also run regularly and jump rope... I realize that the biggest difference in higher levels of lacrosse is athleticism; including speed and strength. The winners are always bigger, faster and stronger. I hope that project sting can help me to reach this next level... At the begining of this last school year I was actually up around 193 but after basketball season I was down to about 180... At present date I'm about 183. My goal is to put on about 15 pounds of muscle but also staying agile and quick"

Okay, so John's pitch was a good one... And here are his starting metrics:

Height - 6'1"
Weight - 183 lbs
Squat - 185 lbs
Deadlift - 155 lbs
Bench - 155 lbs
Pull-Ups - 9
40 Time - 5.04 seconds

John's currently on "Weight Gain - Medium Metabolism" nutrition plan, "Intermediate Mass Lacrosse" training plan, and Get Bigger supplement package. When he sent us his diet and had a few questions about the nutrition plans, this is what we told him:

The most important thing to know is this John. It sounds like you're already eating well (big breakfast, conscientious of balanced meals, etc)... So you're a lot of the way there. This diet need not be adhered to in totality. Get the majority of it right, i.e. big post-lift meal (shake, and then food), casein before bed, and avoid long periods without food in-between meals, and you'll be in a good place.

John then replied with the following: 


"Thanks for the info. I had a question about creatine. I've heard good stuff and also bad stuff about it so I did some research and a lot of things were saying that once you stop you lose the muscle because its just mostly water. And that you apear bigger because there's a lot of extra water in ur muscles. Is taking the creatine necessary or is it possible to do it without it and just use the other supplements?

I've put on some pounds of muscle within the last few months and I never used any type of supplements at all, so is it possible to not use the creatine, but I will use the others?"

To which we replied:

Hi John,

We know there's a lot of talk of creatine and its effects floating around the web, but we stand by an article we released by Marie Spano... If you've a moment, here's the link:

www.oneresult.com/articles/content/dispelling-myths-about-creatine

John, if you're uncomfortable taking creatine based on what you've read, we completely understand. You should feel no obligation to take it. We sent it to you because we believe its safe and because we believe it works, but that doesn't mean you need to believe it works. Start with the 2:1:1 and the casein, see how that goes, and we'll take it from there.

If at some point you decide you'd like to try creatine, awesome. If not, no worries.

We've provided a roadmap, not a mandate. We encourage you to follow the plans as you're comfortable to, and we'll tweak along the way to help you keep progressing. The more feedback from you, the better.

Which leads us to the present day... John's official start date:

"I'm officially in the program. Yesterday was my first full day. I am currently 182 pounds and 6'1". I'm looking to put on about 10 to maybe 15 pounds of muscle and to be cut, not just huge. All while staying fast, quick and explosive. I had a question though about the casein because on the box it says 1 scoop but then I just reread this email and you guys said 2 scoops, so which should I be doing? And also just double checking- I take the 2:1:1 only on the days that I'm working out right after the workouts but the casein I take every night even if I didnt work out that day, correct?"

And away we go... John's asking smart, informed, questions which bodes well for his success. He's going to skip the creatine, and focus on taking 2:1:1 and casein first. We'll revisit John in a week and see how he's doing. Until then...